Kids stretches



May 30, 1933.

Hv DE ASTAEBLEFR HIDE STRETCHER Filed March 29,` 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet lMay 30, 1933.v H. DE sTAEBLr-:R

HIDE STRETCHER Filed March 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .mnmw

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Patented May 3Q, 1933 itl "il eppiicanos sie@ Maren es, i930. serial no.440,@36.

VMy invention relates to hide stretchers and more particularly to suchdevices used in the preparation of leather for the manufacture ofbelting and the like.

It is the practice in the art to trim the hide straight on the two sidesand one end, while the other or neck end is left with an irregular edge.If the butt of leather resulting from the stretching operation is tohave uniform strength and elasticity throughout its area it is necessaryto stretch the different longitudinally extending portions of the widthof the hide separately because these portions can be stretched Forinstance, a portion of the hide extending longitudinally along thebackside thereof will be stretched only slightly by a given tension orpull while, on the other hand, a longitudinally extending portion at thebellyside of the hide will be stretched very much by the saine tensionor pull and must be so stretched if the resultant leather in thatportion will have the same strength and elasticity as the portion on thebackside of the hide. The longitudinally extending portions between theback and belly sides likewise must be stretched to different degreesvarying in direct relation to their position in respect to the back orbelly side.

In the stretching machines and the stretching operations including themas heretofore used the straight edge of the hide at the end thereofopposite the neck or 'irregularend was held in a stretching frame bymeans of a xed clamp or clamps at one end of the frame. The irregular orneck end was then gripped by one or more independently movablestretching members and tension or pull was applied separately to thesemembers to stretch separately the different longitudinally extendingportions of the width of the hide engaged thereby. After onelongitudinally extending portion of the hide was stretched suiiicientlythe stretching member engaging thatportion was clamped or otherwisemaintained in fixed positionto hold that portion as stretched, and thenanother longitudinally extending portion of the hide was likewisestretched and this operation was repeated until the entire Width of thehide had been stretched to render it uniform in strength and elasticitythroughout. With the operation just described obviously the task ofjudging the tensile strength and amount of stretch in the differentfparts of thehide was left'to the'operator. i

The object of invention is to' provide in a hide'stretcher an automaticmechanism wherebyv all longitudinally extending portions of the width ofthe hide will be subjected to equal stretching pull or tension of apredetermined amount so applied that the portions will be simultaneouslystretched, regardless of the relative tensile strength thereof,throughout the different distances required to render the stretched hideuniform in strength and elasticity.

Other features and objects of my new and improved hide stretcher will bebrought out in the detailed description of its construction andoperation given below.

Referring to the two sheets of drawings in which similar charactersindicate similar parts Fig. l is a plan View of a device embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 isa sectional View along the lines 2-2 in Fig. l; Fig.3 is a plan view showing the construction of a movable stretching memberand automatic stop therefor; and Figs. 4 and 5 show further details ofconstruction Referring to the drawings the hide stretcher shown thereinhas been reduced for the sake of clarity to its simplest form andconsists of a stretching l,frame and a detachable stretching head. Thestretching frame l may be of either wood or meta-'l or a combination ofboth, with side pieces 2 and 3 and end pieces 4 and 5. The end piece 4of the frame 1 contains one lor more fixed Vmembers to hold one end ofthe hide, as described below and in this embodiment they are in the formof ixed clamps 6 which are spaced apart and are held in position bybolts 7 extending through the side piece 4. rlhe clamps 6, as shown inFig. 4, each comprise a pair of plates 8 which are serrated on theirinner faces and are otherwise adapted to grip and hold portion of thehide when the plates are brought together piston 30.

by bolts 9 acting about a fulcrum lug 19 extending inwardly from theinner face of one of the plates.

At the other end of the stretching frame and on the end piece 5 thereofare mounted a plurality of independently movable stretching memberswhich in this embodiment of my invention each consist of a clamp 11 anda stretching rod 16. The clamps 11 are mounted in any convenient way onthe inner end of the rods 16 and consist of a pair of plates 12 carriedby a bolt 13 extending through a longitudinally arranged slot 14 in theend piece 5, for the purpose more fully outlined below. The plates 12are serrated on their inner faces Yandare adapted to be brought togetherto grip a hide by a pair of bolts 15 working about a fulcrum lug 15a.The stretching rods 16 are ratcheted as: at 17 and extend through theautomatic stop members 18 each of which, preferably, includes a springdetent 19 positioned to engage the ratchets of a rod 16 and to preventthe rod from being moved towards the center of the stretching frame 1unless the detent is manually released, all as clearly shown in Figs. 2and 3.

The stretching head in this embodiment of my invention comprises a base2O and spacing blocks 21 to maintain the base in predetermined fixedrelation to the stretching frame 1. Upon the base 2O are mounted aplurality of cylinders 22 arranged in longitudinal alignment with thestretching .frame and containing fluid actuated pistons 23 vcarried onthe end of piston rods 24 which terminate at their opposite ends as eyes25 adapted to engage hooks 26 on the ends of the stretching rods 16.Leading into Veach of the cylinders 22 is a fluid feed pipe 27 connectedto a main pipe 2S which received Huid under pressure from a mastercylinder in which pressure is created bythe master Then the masterpiston 30 is moved in the master cylinder 29 to force the fluid 31outwardly therefrom this fluid will flow through the main 28 and throughthe fluid feed pipes 27 into each of the cylinders 22 in front of thepistons 23 and these pistons will be moved rearwardly in the cylindei'swith a. force oi pull equal to the pressure on thefluid in the mastercylinder. It may be understood that a uniform pull will be exerted uponall of the stretching members operatively connected to the piston rodsandoin turn a uniform pull or tension will be applied to stretch thehide. Also, irrespective of the distances traveled by the differentpistons 23 in stretching the hide, the

actuating pressure for all the pistons, and in turn the tension on thehide will remain the Having described the component parts of my device Iwill now more fully explain its mode of operation, which is as follows:

The hide 32 is placed in the stretching frame and the straight endthereof is gripped in the clamps 6 at the end a of the frame. Theirregular or neck end of the hide is then gripped by the clamps 11cairied by the stretching rods 16. The stretching head.v is then placedin position at the end 5 of the stretching frame 1 and the hooks 26 oncach of the stretching rods 16 are inserted through an eye 25 on one ofthe piston rods 24 which rods are freely movable when there is no fluidin the cylinder 22. If it is necessary to move the rods 16 inwardlyT tobrinfr the clamps 11 on the end thereof in contact with the hide thespring detents 19 may be temporarily released by lifting up on the catch33.

Then each of the stretching rods 16 has been engaged by a piston rod 211pressure is applied to the fluid 31 by movement of the master piston 30through an outside force of power, .not shown here, and the fluid 31 isforced from the cylinder 29 through the main pipe 28 and through theHuid feed pipes 27 into the cylinders 22 in front of the pistons 23 tomove the pistons and the piston rods 24 carried thereby away from thestretching frame 1. When the piston rods move in this manner pull ortension is applied through the stretching rods 16 to the variouslongitudinally extending portions of the hide 32. A pressure gauge 31may be provided on the master cylinder 29 wherebv the operatoi' mavdetermine the fliiid pressure being exerted agiinst the pistons 23 and,therefore, may determine the pull being applied to the hide. A port 35may be provided in each of the cylinders 22 to allow the escape of airtherefrom as the piston is moved therein. Wise, a valve 36 may beprovided in each of the fluid feed 1iipes 37 so that a flow of fiuid toany of the cylinders 22 may be cut` The movement of the stretch-A ofllif desired. ing members in stretching the hide will be steadied bv thebolts 13 of the clamps 11 movinginthe slots 14e. Y

As mentioned above the pistons 23 will move rearwardly in theircylinders 22 and move the piston rods 2li and stretching rods 16different distances for a given pressure being applied as shown by thegauge 34:. The movement of apiston will continue until thelongitudinallv extending portion of Likevarious portions of the hidewill be uniform.

After a sufficient pressure as indicated by the gauge 34 has beenapplied to the pistons 23 and in turn after a sufficient stretching pullor tension has been applied to the hide the movement of the mastercylinder 29 is stopped and the stretching head is removed from thestretching frame and the piston rods 24 are taken out of contact withthe stretching rods 16. lVhen the head is removed the hide will bemaintained in stretched position by the detents l5) of the stops 18acting on the ratchets 1'? in the upper surface of the stretching rods16.

It may be readily understood that in adapting my invention to hidestretchers of various types the details of construction such as thesize, shape and arrangement of parts may be varied within wide limitswithout deviating from the spirit of my invention as included in theclaims set forth below.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A hide stretcher comprising in combination a stretching frame havinga fixed member for holding one end of said hide and a plurality ofindependently movable stretching members to engage the other endthereof, and a stretching head having a plurality of stretchii'ig meanseach comprising a piston in a cylinder, each of said pistons beingoperatively attached to one of said stretching members, said stretchingmeans including means for feeding a fluid under pressure into saidcylinders and thereby being arranged to exert automatically andsimultaneously a uniform tension on said stretching members but to allowsaid stretching members to be moved different distances thereby, andautomatic stops cooperating with said stretching members to maintainsaid hide in stretched position.

2. A hide stretcher comprising` in combination a stretching frame havinga fixed member for holding one end of said hide and a plurality ofindependently movable stretching members to engage the other end thereofand a plurality of stretching means arranged to move said stretchingmembers to stretch said hide, each of said stretching means beingoperated by a piston movable in a cylinder, and a master cylinder andmeans for injecting fluid under pressure therefrom into said othercylinders to move said pistons whereby said stretching means will exertautomatically and simultaneously a. uniform tension on said stretchingmembers but will allow different portions of said hide engaged bydifferent stretching members to be stretched different distancesthereby.

3. A hide stretcher comprising in combination a stretching frame havinga fixed member for holding one end of said hide and a plurality ofindependently movable stretching members to engage the other end thereofand a plurality of stretching means each of which is operativelyconnected to one of said stretching members, each of said stretchingmeans being operated by a piston movable 1n a cylinder whereby saidstretching member is moved to stretch the portion of hide in engagementtherewith, a master cylinder and means for injecting fluid at a desiredpressure therefrom yinto said other cylinders to move said pistonswhereby said stretching means will exert automatically andsimultaneously a uniform tension on said stretching members but allowsaid stretching members to be moved different distances thereby.

4. A hide stretcher comprising in combination a stretching frame havinga fixed member for holding one end of said hide and a plurality ofindependently movable streching members to engage the other end thereofand a plurality of stretching means each of which is operativelyconnected to one of said stretching members, each of said stretchingmeans being operated by a piston movable in a cylinder whereby saidstretching member is moved to stretch the portion or hide in engagementtherewitn, a master cylinder and means for injecting fluid at a desiredpressure therefrom into said other cylinders to move said pistonswhereby said stretching means will exert automatically andsinniltaneously a uniform tension on said stretching members but allowsaid stretching members to be moved dierent distances thereby, andautomatic stops cooperating with said stretching members to maintainsaid hide in stretched position.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to the foregoing speciiication.

HERBERT DE STAEBLER.

